Euroleague Semifinals 2009 - Ros Casares 86, Krakow 57

Erika de Souza is looking forward.

In front of 6400 spectators, Krakow hoped that they could extend their amazing season a few steps further by making it to the European finals. Unfortunately, the best Krakow can hope for is third place in Euroleague, as they were thumped on Ros Casares's home ground with a 86-57 loss.

The win by Ros Casares sends them to the finals on Sunday to play Spartak Moscow, who have been Euroleague champs for three years in a row. Krakow plays Ekaterinburg in the consolation game.

The game report, box score, play-by-play and a small gallery can all be found here.

Krakow fell behind 31-15 in the first quarter, and it got worse. With two minutes left in the first half, Krakow was down by twenty points and El Ros took a 57-35 lead into the intermission. In the third quarter, Krakow was held to just seven points and it was all over except for a temporary celebration. Ros Casares shot 53 percent from the field; Krakow only shot 35 percent.

Ewelina Kobryn scored 16 points and nine rebounds for Krakow. The only other player to break double-digits for Krakow was Liren Cohen, who only scored seven points.

Iziane Castro Marques was the third leading scorer for Krakow with nine points, but it was a poor shooting night for Castro Marques:

9 points
3-for-11 shooting
2-for-4 free throw shooting
4 rebounds
3 assists
3 turnovers
27 minutes played

As for Ros Casares, Delisha Milton-Jones scored 17 points and five rebounds. Anna Montanana added 12 points for Ros Casares and Belinda Snell scored just 10 points. But the player of the game, and the winner of the Battle of the Brazilians was Erika de Souza:

23 points
10-for-14 shooting
11 rebounds
3 offensive rebounds

Euroleague Semifinals: Spartak Moscow 87, Ekaterinburg 79

Diana Taurasi, "Russian" to another Euroleague final.

Those "in the know" in European basketball were watching this semifinal of Euroleague, as it was very likely that one of these two Russian teams would probably win it all. Spartak Moscow has been Euroleague champion for three straight years, and the rules of Euroleague have forced any two teams from the same country left in the semifinals to play each other. In the last two years, Spartak Moscow has faced Ekaterinburg, and beaten them both times. Furthermore, this year Spartak Moscow is undefeated in the powerful Russia Superleague A.

Nothing would change in this game. Spartak Moscow won 87-79, moving into the finals on Sunday against the winner of Ros Casares-Krakow. Ekaterinburg plays the loser in the 3rd place consolation game.

The game report, box score, play by play, and a small photo gallery can be found here.

What to say? After a tight first quarter, Ekaterinburg built an eight point lead late in the second, but Spartak Moscow fought back to 40-40 on the second of two free throws by Kelly Miller with 23 seconds left. A buzzer-beating 3-pointer by Cappie Pondexter put Ekaterinburg back in the lead, 43-40 going into halftime.

Both teams resumed the battle in the third quarter, neither side getting more than a couple of baskets ahead of the other. Ekaterinburg took a brief four-point lead in the fourth but Irina Osipova's tip in with 5:19 brought the score to 69-69 for Spartak Moscow. Tied again at 71-71 with 3:27 left, Spartak Moscow went on a 9-0 run that gave Spartak Moscow the lead for good.

Every player that scord in double-digits for Ekaterinburg had a WNBA pedigree. Candace Parker led Ekaterinburg with 18 points and six rebounds. Cappie Pondexter scored 16 points and four rebounds. (Both players would end up fouling out.) Deanna Nolan scored 13 and Ann Wauters added 10 points.

But for Spartak Moscow, it was Diana Taurasi who put the team on her back, hitting 8-for-13 from behind the 3-point line and scoring 37 points and 12 rebounds, also adding six assists. Sylvia Fowles added another double-double with 14 points and 12 rebounds. Anete Jekabsone-Zogota scored 12 points.

Kelly Miller played for eight minutes. Spartak Moscow did pretty well without her.

1 points
1-for-2 free throw shooting
8 minutes played

Highlights of Euroleague Quarterfinals: Krakow vs. Brno

This is how highlights should be done:

* The bus arrives.
* Clapping in unison.
* Great basketball.
* Actual BURN IT WITH FIRE from the fans about six minutes in the first clip!
* Actual BURN IT WITH FIRE from the players about seven minutes in!
* Unidentified mascots in the first minute of the second clip.

(Thanks to the Painel do Basquete Femenino blog for cluing me in to these clips.)

Euroleague Semifinals Set

The semifinals for Euroleague are set - and we are guaranteed to be writing about at least one Atlanta Dream player come finals time. What makes it truly crunch-time is that from now on...it's single-elimination. One chance, winner-take-all.

The games take place April 4th and April 11th, 2010. In the first bracket, Ekaterinburg will play Spartak Moscow in a match between the consensus #1 and #2 teams. The rule in Euroleague is that you don't want more than half the teams in finals series to come from the same country, and teams will be forced together to prevent that. Therefore, the top two teams take each other one in the first bracket.

In the second bracket: Ros Casares vs. Krakow. What's amazing for Krakow is that they were a last-minute substitution for the dissolved Russian superpower CSKA.

The losers of the those two games will play in their own bracket to determine the third place finisher.

Euroleague Quarterfinals 3/2009 - Krakow 78, Brno 73

Iziane is on her way to a Euroleague semifinal.

Erika de Souza, meet Iziane Castro Marques. Krakow wins their Euroleague series against Czech team Brno by winning Game 3 of the best-of-three series at home, 78-73 in front of 2200 spectators. The win sets up a Ros Casares-Krakow Euroleague semifinal, where the two Atlanta Dream players and Brazilian stars will play against each other.

The game card - featuring a game report, box score, play by play and small gallery - are all right here.

It was an extremely tight game to start with - no team could get a lead of more than three points ahead of the other in the first quarter, which ended 26-24 in favor of Krakow. Karkow managed to put themselves back up by five points on two free throws by Iziane, 34-29, but Brno erased the lead with six straight points. With 45 seconds left, Liren Cohen hit the final two shots of the first half to give Krakow a 47-45 halftime lead.

In the third, with Krakow ahead 57-55 with four minutes left, Krakow put together a 6-0 run that gave them a 63-55 lead, the biggest in the game. DeWanna Bonner hit a pair of free throws for Brno, but Krakow took a 63-57 lead into the final ten minutes.

The question was could Brno fight back? Bonner was still good at the free throw line and she helped Brno come back to a 65-65 tie with 5:40 left. However, Krakow went on an 8-0 run taking them to a 73-65 lead with 3:28 left. Brno stayed in striking distance, and with Krakow up 76-70, Jelena Skerovic hit a 3-pointer that brought Brno back to 76-73 with 32 seconds left. Unfortunately for Brno, Krakow got the ball back and with 12 seconds left, Marta Fernandez hit a jumper that put Krakow up by five points and Brno could get nothing else going.

Taj McWilliams led Brno with 15 points, eight rebounds and three assists. DeWanna Bonner added seven points and eight rebounds in the losing effort.

The clear player of the game was Janell Burse who scored 20 points on 10-for-17 shooting. Iziane Castro Marques scored 14 points, but had an average game:

14 points
5-for-13 shooting
3 rebounds
4 assists
35 minutes played

Friday's Euroleague Games

Ekaterinburg 65, Good Angels Kosice 60. Ekaterinburg wins the second game of the best-of-three series, knocking out Angel McCoughtry's Good Angels Kosice team.

According to Angel McCoughtry, ""It was a very good match. It was difficult, but I'm very proud of my teammates. We played well against a very tough opponent." The Good Angels were down by only one point after three quarters (42-41) and led 43-42 after a layup by McCoughtry, but after that the closest the Good Angels could get was two points. McCoughtry scored 16 points and had six rebounds in the loss.

Brno 87, Krakow 72. Brno's 87-72 win over Krakow in the Czech Republic forces a game three of the best-of three seres. Brno won every quarter and led by as many as 24 in the final ten minutes. Iziane Castro Marques led KRakwo with 19 points. Taj McWilliams had 20 points and nine rebounds for Brno.

Ros Casares 63, Perfumerias 57. Ros Casares sweeps the series 2-0, defeating Perfumerias on their home court. Tied at 57-57 with three minutes left, Perfumerias didn't score for the rest of the game.

Erika de Souza led Ros Casares with 21 points and eight rebounds. Her Atlanta Dream teammate, Sancho Lyttle had 17 points and 10 minutes.

Euroleague Quarterfinals 1/2009 - Ros Casares 74, Perfumerias 50

Welcome to Valencia!

With the two best teams in Spain playing against each other, everyone expected a fantastic game between Ros Casares and Perfumerias. Instead, the crowd of 4,820 spectators in Valencia were treated to a happy anti-climax: Ros Casares led in every quarter and won easily, 74-50.

The game report, box score, play-by-play and a photo gallery for this game are right here.

El Ros pulled out to a quick lead, and only Sancho Lyttle's seven points in the first 10 minutes kept Ros Casares from running away from Perfumerias. Perfumerias got to 23-18 in the second, but Ros Casares was off again, and led 39-29 at halftime.

Perfumerias remained at least 10 points behind throughout the third quarter, and Ros Casares expanded the lead to 20 in the fourth. It really wasn't much of a game.

LeCoe Willingham had 17 points and eight rebounds to lead Perfumerias in the defeat. Belinda Snell scored 21 points for Ros Casares with 3-for-6 shooting from 3-point range, and Delisha Milton-Jones contributed 14 points to the victory.

Erika de Souza got on the boards, but she didn't score a lot for Ros Casares:

4 points
2-for-7 shooting
10 rebounds
3 steals
33 minutes played

Sancho Lyttle didn't have a standout game, but she had nothing to be ashamed of - she was the second leading scorer on Perfumerias.

13 points
6-for-14 shooting
6 rebounds
30 minutes played

Euroleague Quarterfinals 1/2009 - Krakow 78, Brno 74

Iziane Castro Marques was definitely needed in the Euroleague quarterfinals series against Brno - everyone was going to be needed, because most Euroleague observers figured this to be a close game. Krakow came back from a double-digit deficit in the fourth quarter and an exciting final two minutes ended with Krakow winning 78-74 in Poland in front of 2000 spectators.

The game report, box score, and play-by-play is here. There's no gallery of pics, not yet, anyway, but we do have...some film! (Check out Iziane Castro Marques at about 44 seconds in.)

Brno took the lead early in the first quarter but Krakow came back to tie the score at 19-19. DeWanna Bonner and Hollie Grima provided the offense punch for the Czechs and led 43-34 at halftime. Brno maintained the two-point lthrough most of the third quarter and led 62-56 at the end of thirty minutes.

Krakow came back. They held Brno to just five points in the first five minutes of the final quarter and retook the lead, 70-69. With four minutes left, Eva Viteckova hit a 3-pointer for Brno that tied the game at 72-72.

For the next four minutes, both teams tried to make something happen. Brno could get the rebounds, but couldn't take a shot. Krakow took shot after shot, and missed most of them. However, with Krakow up 76-74, Janell Burse hit a jumper with 16 seconds left that put Krakow up 78-74. With 10 seconds left, DeWanna Bonner tried to hit a 3-pointer for Brno, but Krakow got the rebound and the win.

Brno was led by Eva Viteckova's 22 points. DeWanna Bonner scored 17 points and 12 rebounds, and Taj McWilliams scored eight points and 10 rebounds.

Krakow had three players score 18 points. Janlle Burse shot 8-for-11 with 12 rebounds; Ewelina Kobryn shot 8-for-12 with 11 rebounds.

Iziane Castro Marques had 18 points in 26 minutes:

18 points
7-for-17 shooting
2-for-7 from 3-point range
3 rebounds
26 minutes

Euroleague Quarterfinals 1/2009 - Ekaterinburg 81, Good Angels Kosice 56

Angel McCoughtry tries to stop Deanna Nolan.

Every team knew that Ekaterinburg would be tough, but some team would have to play them: that team was the Good Angels of Kosice. Unfortunately, they experienced exactly how tough Ekaterinburg was, as the Russians won at home 81-56 in front of 5,000 spectators.

The game report, box score, play by play and a small gallery are right here.

For the first three minutes, the Good Angels were in control and they marched to a 6-0 lead on Ekaterinburg's turf. Ekaterinburg caught up but only led by one, 17-16 after one quarter. In the second, Ekaterinburg managed to widen the lead out to ten points with a jump shot from Sandrine Gruda in the last minute: they led 47-39 going into halftime.

But the third quarter was a disaster for the Good Angels - they only scored five points in the quarter, and went 0-for-12 over their final twelve shots of the third. Ekaterinburg led 64-44 at the end of thirty minutes and there was no comeback from the Good Angels.

Candace Parker led all players with 21 points and 14 rebounds, and she hit 9 of 11 free throw shots. Sandrine Gruda scored 13 points for Ekaterinburg.

Candice Dupree led the Good Angels with 13 points and 14 rebounds. Ivaná Jalcová scored 12 poitns and had three rebounds and three assists.

For Angel McCoughtry, it was a poor shooting game - she got double digits, but took a lot of shots:

12 points
4-for-16 shooting
8 rebounds
4 steals

Quarterfinals Set for the Euroleague - Four Dream Players Ready to Take Part

Erika de Souza, Sancho Lyttle, Iziane Castro Marques, and Angel McCoughtry are all playing on teams in Europe this year. They're playing on very good teams, since the teams that they play for are taking part in the Euroleague quarterfinals.

Here are the matchups for the quarterfinals. The quarterfinals are a best-of-three series. The team listed first in each matchup has home field advantage.

Spartak Moscow vs. Fenerbahce.
Ekaterinburg vs. Good Angels Kosice - Angel McCoughtry is going to face a top-league team in Ekaterinburg
Krakow vs. Brno - Iziane Castro Marques's team has home field advantage
Ros Casares vs. Perfumerias - Erika de Souza plays against Sancho Lyttle in a battle of Dream posts.

The quarterfinals take place over February 23rd-February 26th-March 3rd.

Euroleague 8th Finals 3/2009 - Perfumerias 64, Bourges 55

Sancho Lyttle is looking ahead to the quarterfinals, obviously.

If you think it's cold in the United States, Europe has had some cold weather as well - it snowed on Wednesday night in Salamanca in Spain. No pics. Perfumerias didn't mind the cold weather - they managed to win the deciding game of the best-of-three series, knocking Bourges out of the Euroleague post-season with a 64-55 win.

The game report, box score, play-by-play and photo gallery are all here.

The game report has an amusing paragraph:

"Avenida meanwhile struggled mightily, especially their leader Sancho Lyttle who was frustrated by the physical play of the Bourges defense, and showed it on several occasions looking skyward in disbelief.

(I think I've seen that look before during Dream games.)

Bourges started with a 14-5 lead early on but Perfumerias answered with six straight points to close to 14-11 at the end of the first quarter. However, Bourges was able to build a double-digit lead and took a 32-22 lead into the locker room at halftime.

The second half, however, belonged to Perfumerias. Perfumerias began to whittle away at the lead and took off on a 12-0 run midway through the third quarter, with a Sancho Lyttle jump shot putting Perfumerias up 37-35 for the first time in the game with two minutes left in the third quarter. Ilona Burgrova, however, hit a jumper with five seconds left, letting Bourges regain the lead 41-40 at the end of the third quarter.

From that moment on, it was a fight through most of the fourth quarter. With Perfumerias up 54-43 with three minutee left, the French team ran out of gas. They would only score two more points for the rest of the game - they took all five shots - and Perfumerias secured their visit to the Euroleague quarterfinals.

Endene Miyem scored 15 points and had five rebounds in 27 minutes of play for Bourges. No other player scored in double figures for Bourges.

Le'coe Willingham scored 16 points and seven rebounds for Perfumerias. However, Bourges had the right idea - the way to beat Perfumerias is to stop Sancho Lyttle. And when you look at Lyttle's stats, it's clear that Bourges had failed.

22 points
6-for-17 shooting
10-for-12 free throw shooting
15 rebounds, including five offensive rebounds
37 minutes played

Euroleague 8th Finals 3/2009 - Krakow 69, Pecs 57

With the folding of CSKA, the Krakow team had been folded in as a last-minute replacement. However, Krakow has played like a Russian team, at least in the Euroleague, and the miracle season won't be coming to a stop soon - Krakow defeated Hungarian team Pecs 69-57 in Krakow in the deciding game of the best-of-three series. Krakow will be moving on to the Euroleague quarterfinals.

All of the good stuff - the game report, the box score, the play-by-play and the pictures - are right here.

Krakow managed to control the lead during the first quarter, leading 21-18 after the first ten minutes. Pecs, however, kept after Krakow and managed to briefly lead a couple of times in the second quarter. At halftime, the game was virtually tied, 38-37 in favor of home team Krakow.

Krakow took the lead again in the third, but Pecs was close behind. A 6-0 run to end the third quarter put Pecs in the lead by one point, 49-48. The teams continued the struggle in the fourth quarter, with the score tied 55-55 with five minutes left.

From that point, however, it was all Krakow. Krakow outscored Pecs 14-2 for the rest of the game. Pecs took nine shots and only hit one of them. The last six points from Krakow came in the form of free throws.

Dalma Ivanyi for Pecs had an interesting double-double - 10 rebound and 11 assists. She also had four points and six steals. Anna Vadja had 18 points and five rebounds for Pecs.

Marta Fernandez had 17 points, six rebounds and five assists for the winners. Janelle Burse had seven points...and 16 rebounds for Krakow.

For Iziane Castro Marques, it wasn't much of a day.

4 points
1-for-9 shooting (0-for-5 from 3-point range)
2 rebounds
22 minutes

Euroleague 8th Finals 2/2009 - Good Angels Kosice 65, Beretta 59

Angel McCoughtry doing work.

The Good Angels got the upset in Italy and found themselves in a great position - getting the oppotunity to clinch at home. They made good use of that opportunity, winning 65-59 in Slovakia and propelling the Good Angels Kosike team into the Euroleague quarterfinals, a place no one expected the Good Angels Kosice team to be.

All of the information - game report, box score, gallery, etc. - are all at this link.

Beretta managed to get an 18-13 lead, but the second quarter was all Good Angels, going on a 15-9 run in the last four and a half minutes of the first half and taking a 39-33 halftime lead. With the score 54-43 at the end of the third quarter, Beretta stormed back in the fourth quarter with a 9-2 start to close the score to 56-52 with 5:46 left.

Beretta stayed within a couple of baskets until the last minute: Bernadette Ngoyisa scored on a one-and-one with 1:38 left to close to within 60-57. However, the Good Angels would go to the free throw line six times in the remainder of the game...and they'd hit all six shots.

Bernadette Ngoyisa was the player of the game, scoring 18 points and 12 rebounds in just 28 minutes for Beretta. Laura Macchi had 17points for Beretta, the only other player in double-digits for Beretta.

For the Good Angels, there were three players in double digits: Miljana Musovic scored 12 points. Candice Dupree scored 15 points and seven rebounds in 38 minutes. And of course, Angel McCoughtry also had a double-digit game:

12 points
6-for-11 shooting
6 rebounds
4 personal fouls
4 turnovers
4 steals

Euroleague 8th Finals 2/2009 - Bourges 69, Perfumerias 64

Lyttle is second from left, undoubtedly looking for her 17th rebound.

For Bourges, it was a case of "there's no place like home". With 3000 spectators to provide support and a good first half, Bourges won the second game of their three-game series with Perfumerias to tie the series at 1-1. The deciding game will be played in Spain on Wednesday, February 10th.

All of the good stuff - game report, box score, play-by-play and photo gallery - can be found here.

Bourges managed to establish a modest 20-15 lead at the end of the first 10 minutes. Perfumerias briefly closed to 22-21 before Bourges marched out front again, leading 38-29 at halftime. However, in the third quarter Perfumerias began to get uncomfortably close to Bourges, with an Anna de Mondt lay-up closing the score to 43-41 with six minutes left. But Bourges managed to pull out in front again, leading 53-46 with one quarter left.

Perfumerias came charging back, hanging within a couple of baskets of Bourges late in the fourth quarter. With three seconds left in the game, an Anna de Mondt 3-point shot closed the gap to 67-64. However, Bourges had the ball, Perfumerias was forced to foul, and Anael Lardy made the final free throws for Bourges.

Styliani Kaltsidou scored 16 points and six rebounds for Bourges. Anael Lardi had 12 points and three rebounds in just 21 minutes played.

Anna de Mondt scored 14 points, three rebounds and three assists for Perfumerias. But the best player of the game was Sancho Lyttle....

20 points
8-for-15 shooting
16 rebounds with four offensive rebounds
38 minutes played

Euroleague 8th Finals 2/2009: Ros Casares 85, Prague 74

Sandra Le Dréan vs. Erika de Souza.

Ros Casares became the first team - chronologically speaking - to secure a spot in the "Elite Eight", the Eurocup Quarterfinals by defeating Prague 85-74 in the Czech Republic. Ros Casares swept the Czechs 2-0 to end the playoff.

All of the information - the game report, the play-by-play, the box score and a small gallery are right here.

What's to say? It really wasn't much of a contest despite the score. El Ros led 18-4 at the start and finished the first quarter with a 24-12 lead. Down 13 points at halftime, Prague would have to claw their way back. Prague managed to close to 55-46 in the third quarter but Ros Casares played just as well, leading 64-51 at the end of three quarters. With four minutes left, Prague closed to 74-66 but would never get any closer than eight points to Ros Casares.

Sandra Le Dréan scored 11 points and six rebounds for Prague. Katerina Elhotova led all scorers for Prague with 13 points.

Delisha Milton-Jones led Ros Casarese with 18 points and six rebounds. Amaya Valdemoro would have 12 points and five rebounds for El Ros. Erika de Souza would also break double-digits in points.

10 points
5-for-9 shooting
5 rebounds
2 assists
27 minutes played

Euroleague 8th Finals 1/2009: Good Angels Kosice 70, Beretta 67

More than likely, no one expected the Good Angels Kosice to win game one on the road in Euroleague. The Slovaks were one of only two teams on the road to win the opening game of their respective best-of-three 8th Finals series as Raffaella Masciardi of Beretta missed a 3-pointer with nine seconds left in the game that could have tied it for Beretta, which lost 70-67 at home.

Everything that you'd want - a box score, a game report, a play-by-play report and a small gallery are right here. The Good Angels could advance to the quarter-finals with a home win on Friday against Beretta.

After a tied first quarter, the Good Angels shifted into gear, winning the second quarter 30-18 and taking a 48-36 lead into halftime. Beretta managed to hold the visitors to just eight third-quarter points and the Good Angels only led 56-51 at the end of thirty minutes.

In the fourth quarter, Beretta made its move. A lay-up by Elisabetta Moro with 5:26 to go brought Beretta within two points, 61-59 and the Italians were never much more than a couple of baskets away. With 15 seconds left, Raffaella Masciardi nailed a 3-pointer for Beretta to close the team to 69-67.

The Good Angels put the ball in the hands of Angel McCoughtry, who was fouled and missed her first free throw, but hit her second. Beretta got the ball back and Masciardi tried again, but no luck. The Good Angels would get the rebound and the upset win.

All and all, this was a very close game. Bernadette Ngoyisa had 13 points and 9 rebounds for Beretta. Laura Macchi led Beretta with 24 points.

Lucia Kupcikova led all players on the Good Angels in points and rebounds with 17 points and 9 rebounds. Angel McCoughtry didn't have a good shooting game, but had nothing to be ashamed of.

15 points
4-for-13 shooting
7 rebounds
3 steals
2 blocked shots
31 minutes played

Euroleague 8th Finals 1/2009: Perfumerias 72, Bourges 53

Stay out of Sancho Lyttle's way!

Sometimes, it only takes one quarter to beat a team. In Perfumerias's case, that quarter was the first quarter as Perfumerias's 19-point first quarter lead gave them the edge in a 72-53 win in Spain over French team Bourges.

A box score, play by play, game report and small gallery have been posted here. A win in France against Bourges on Friday ensures that Perfumerias moves ahead.

There's no game report as yet, probably because the box score tells all. Leading 5-2, Bourges found itself on the short end of a 21-0 run by Perfumerias. A three-pointer by Le'Coe Willingham at the end of the first quarter gave Perfumerias a 28-9 lead at the end of ten minutes. Bourges fought back in the second quarter holding Perfumerias to just nine points and closing the score to 37-25 at halftime. Unfortunately for Bourges, the French team had another sub-par quarter, scoring just 11 points in the third quarter and Perfumerias could coast to a victory.

Paoline Salagnac scored 11 points and eight rebounds for Bourges, but had five turnovers. Perfumerias was 10-for-23 from 3-point range.

The big game for Perfumerias belonged to Dream favorite Sancho Lyttle who had 24 points, 10 rebounds and four blocked shots. For Lyttle:

24 points
10-for-14 shooting
10 rebounds
2 assists
4 blocked shots
33 minutes played

Euroleague 8th Finals 1/2009: Ros Casares 81, Prague 70

Erika de Souza is glad to help out Amaya Valdemoro.

With a crowd of 2240 watching in Valencia, it looked like Ros Casares was going to coast to a win by halftime. However, Prague staged a second-half comeback but could not match the first half numbers of El Ros as they fell short to the Spaniards, 81-70.

A game report, a box score, a play-by-play report and a small gallery can all be found right here. Ros Casares moves to the quarter-finals with a win over Prague on Friday.

Ros Casares won each of the first two quarter by at least ten points and had a 52-31 lead at the halftime break. However, El Ros would not break the century mark. Prague outscored Ros Casares in the second half, winning both quarters. A free throw by Charde Houston with 3:41 left in the game closed the gap to 71-62 but Prague would get no closer than eight points to Ros Casares.

Sandra la Drean had 8 points and 8 rebounds for Prague. Ros Casares would have 23 turnovers in this game. Sonja Kireta would have 18 points and 8 rebounds for the Czechs, who had 12 steals.

Five players scored in double figures for Ros Casares, including Delisha Milton-Jones with 14 points and six rebounds. The player of the game was clearly the Beast from Brazil, Erika de Souza:

24 points
11-for-15 shooting
12 rebounds
3 steals
3 blocked shots
28 minutes of play

Euroleague 8th Finals 1/2009: Krakow 80, Pecs 53

In front of 2200 spectators in Krakow, Krakow showed that their top finish in their group was no fluke as they massacred Hungarian team Pecs 80-53 to take a one game lead in their best-of-three series.

The game report, box score, a small gallery and play-by-play are all here. Krakow can close out the series on Friday with a win at Pecs and advance to the quarter-finals.

Pecs fought Krakow hard in the first half - they were only down by five points, 42-37 at halftime. Unfortunately for Pecs, they only scored sixteen points in the second half: nine in the third quarter and seven in the fourth. Pecs was like a wind-up toy that had wound down and they provided no challenge for Krakow.

Krakow would end up outrebounding Pecs by a factor of 41-23.

Nicole Ohlde wound up with 14 points and 10 rebounds for Pecs. Allie Quigley had 11 points and four rebounds for the Hungarians.

Janell Burse was the player of the day for Krakow with 17 points and nine rebounds. Five players would score in double figures for Krakow.

Iziane Castro Marques's line:

13 points on 5-for-11 shooting
3 rebounds
2 assists
21 minutes played

Euroleague 10/2009 - Good Angels Kosice 95, Gorzow 88

The Good Angels knew they were going on to the Eighth Finals, but the questions was whether they'd finish second in Group C - or fourth. They had to go on the road to Poland to face Gorzow, and managed to win 95-88 on the strength of great performances by Angel McCoughtry and Candice Dupree

Good Angels Kosice finishes at 6-4 in Group C and advances to the Eighth Finals. Their next opponent will be Beretta, which finished at 7-3 in Group B.

The game report, box score, play-by-play and a small gallery can be found here.

Both teams stormed out of the gate, with Gorzow leading 35-23 after the first quarter and 53-51 at the half. With 1:01 in the third quarter, Gorzow led by ten points, 77-67...but the Good Angels scored the next 10 points to tie the game. Up 82-81 with 4:57 to go in the game, the Good Angels went on an 11-2 run to secure the victory.

Liudmilla Sapova scored 22 points and five rebounds for Gorzow. Candice Dupree had an amazing game, with 22 points and 19 rebounds.

However, Angel McCoughtry was no slouch herself:

21 points on 7-for-16 shooting
10 rebounds (3 offensive/7 defensive)
5 assists (but unfortunately 6 turnovers)